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Volume 72, No. 1 • 2012
A NEWSLETTER OF THE OKLAHOMA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
The University of Oklahoma MEWBOURNE COLLEGE OF EARTH & ENERGY
72
Dan T. Boyd, Qatar Petroleum
The petroleum industry in
Oklahoma is preoccupied
today with low-permeability
reservoirs that horizontal
drilling and completion tech-nology
have made attractive
targets. This activity began
in earnest about ten years
ago with horizontal produc-tion
from the Hartshorne
coal in the Arkoma Basin
(Figure 1). Horizontal drill-ing
of this coal accelerated
through the early part of
the decade with the Hunton
dewatering play, which is
located mostly in central
Oklahoma. The two plays
were followed in 2006 by
the Woodford Shale, which
has undergone horizontal
development in the western
Arkoma, Ardmore, and east-ern
Anadarko Basins. There
is now an ever-lengthening
Horizontal Drilling In Oklahoma:
Forcing Conventional Oil to Swim Upstream
Continued on pg. 2
Dan Boyd and the Oklahoma Geological Survey
Rick Andrews and Neil Suneson, OGS Geologists
Dan Boyd came to the Oklahoma Geological
Survey (OGS) 11 years ago after a nationwide
search for a petroleum geologist. He topped
the list of about 30 candidates, largely as a
result of his industry training and experience
and his enthusiasm for working in a state with
such a rich petroleum history. He approached
every project in a practical manner with pro-fessionalism,
integrity, and urgency, assisting
the OGS in gaining national recognition as an
authority for the oil and gas industry and the
State of Oklahoma.
Dan’s enthusiasm was fueled by ambition and
an att itude that caused him to undertake proj-ects
beyond the immediate scope of his assign-ments.
When he fi rst started at the Survey, the
OGS had no current map identifying bound-aries
of oil and gas fi elds in the state, the last
published in 1985. Dan compiled a series of
maps that now are used industry-wide (GM
36, 37, 38). Similarly, the Survey did not have
a stratigraphic guide to oil and gas reservoirs
until Dan made one (SP 2008-1).
Continued on pg. 5
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011*
Completions
Oklahoma Horizontal Completion Reservoirs
Others
Mississippi Lime
Desmoinesian Granite Wash
Cleveland
Misener/Hunton
Hartshorne
Woodford
Data From IHS Energy - Data through 12-1-2011
* Projected
Figure 1
Figure 1. Major Oklahoma Horizontal Drilling Plays (> 100 completions) and other horizontal drilling from
2002 to 2011. Data from IHS Energy (2011) through December 1, 2011.
Former OGS Petroleum Ge-ologist
Dan Boyd, now with
Qatar Petroleum.

Volume 72, No. 1 • 2012
A NEWSLETTER OF THE OKLAHOMA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
The University of Oklahoma MEWBOURNE COLLEGE OF EARTH & ENERGY
72
Dan T. Boyd, Qatar Petroleum
The petroleum industry in
Oklahoma is preoccupied
today with low-permeability
reservoirs that horizontal
drilling and completion tech-nology
have made attractive
targets. This activity began
in earnest about ten years
ago with horizontal produc-tion
from the Hartshorne
coal in the Arkoma Basin
(Figure 1). Horizontal drill-ing
of this coal accelerated
through the early part of
the decade with the Hunton
dewatering play, which is
located mostly in central
Oklahoma. The two plays
were followed in 2006 by
the Woodford Shale, which
has undergone horizontal
development in the western
Arkoma, Ardmore, and east-ern
Anadarko Basins. There
is now an ever-lengthening
Horizontal Drilling In Oklahoma:
Forcing Conventional Oil to Swim Upstream
Continued on pg. 2
Dan Boyd and the Oklahoma Geological Survey
Rick Andrews and Neil Suneson, OGS Geologists
Dan Boyd came to the Oklahoma Geological
Survey (OGS) 11 years ago after a nationwide
search for a petroleum geologist. He topped
the list of about 30 candidates, largely as a
result of his industry training and experience
and his enthusiasm for working in a state with
such a rich petroleum history. He approached
every project in a practical manner with pro-fessionalism,
integrity, and urgency, assisting
the OGS in gaining national recognition as an
authority for the oil and gas industry and the
State of Oklahoma.
Dan’s enthusiasm was fueled by ambition and
an att itude that caused him to undertake proj-ects
beyond the immediate scope of his assign-ments.
When he fi rst started at the Survey, the
OGS had no current map identifying bound-aries
of oil and gas fi elds in the state, the last
published in 1985. Dan compiled a series of
maps that now are used industry-wide (GM
36, 37, 38). Similarly, the Survey did not have
a stratigraphic guide to oil and gas reservoirs
until Dan made one (SP 2008-1).
Continued on pg. 5
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011*
Completions
Oklahoma Horizontal Completion Reservoirs
Others
Mississippi Lime
Desmoinesian Granite Wash
Cleveland
Misener/Hunton
Hartshorne
Woodford
Data From IHS Energy - Data through 12-1-2011
* Projected
Figure 1
Figure 1. Major Oklahoma Horizontal Drilling Plays (> 100 completions) and other horizontal drilling from
2002 to 2011. Data from IHS Energy (2011) through December 1, 2011.
Former OGS Petroleum Ge-ologist
Dan Boyd, now with
Qatar Petroleum.